Re: Honda CBR 250R

[MENTION=82986]yathi[/MENTION]

People are confusing me; some say the diesel Bullet has very little problems, some say it's high maintenance.
[MENTION=39214]B7ACKTHORN[/MENTION]

not 5 years, if I buy one, I expect it to last at least 15. The Greaves Cotton 5 Hp engine is only 25-30k new. Some guys have 1971, 1981 models up and running here and there. Idea is to use the Bullet for mundane chores and once I get a sbk, which will be 5-10 years from now, the CBR250 will be dead, but the Diesel Bullet still be chugging.

Plus, riding one may help in digestion too. I am irritated riding on the small roads here, it's not fun riding a bike at 70 kmph on heavily patched roads.

Re: Honda CBR 250R

Thanks mate

Re: Honda CBR 250R

My friend, royal Enfield means maintenance and it's definitely not for regular use whether it's petrol or diesel. I can clearly say this because back in kerala, every one own a bullet. My bullet I bought back in 2010 ( an 1987 model) and still maintaining, I may be spent more than 2 lakh on my bike so far. It's not that expensive, it's due to my dream to restore bike with my idea. The good things is, you can even get a original nut or screw for bullet 350. So I have replaced each and every thing on bike. I have upgraded the clutch, front shock with classic 500, rear gas shock, better wiring, led head light, disc brake, alloys, heavy battery, etc etc. It took almost 9 month for complete restoration, believe me people do notice my bullet than CBR these days.
So if you are not familiar with royal Enfield just think twice if you are looking for a commute purpose. If you are interested to add a bike for your garage and some weekly drive, you will be happy. I know a few guys who owned the old diesel bikes and moved to petrol. If you are seriously going, make sure you have diesel bullet mechanic handy for validation.

My cousins and other friends are using new series, if you ask a genuine guy whether he is happy with ownership, definitely they are not. A core old bullet can never be happy with new series, they need to improve a lot compared to the bike price tag. My another cousin was waiting for Mahindra mojo release in kerala, finally he became impatient and bought a TNT 500. I used to drive that bike when I am in my native place, I am not sure why on the earth it's shaking that much. Drive less than 40km is horrible, similar way anything more than 90-90km speed. I was always surprised why people are buying new series with such a price tag and bad refinement.
Again, I am not against that brand, I myself own an old bullet and don't have any plan to sell my bike. But they should justify the price tag and name it carry. All they do is some paint job these days.

Re: Honda CBR 250R

you are really sarcastic and making fun, right? as if so many diesel bullet mechanics are available and all parts of diesel bullet is available?

There are service centers to service our cbr other than honda service centers. Even at the extreme case of non avilability of spares, you can very well import it, it's an international bike. Even if you maintain the bike with imported spares, it would be still economical and more satisfactory than maintaining a diesel bullet....

Re: Honda CBR 250R

[MENTION=16033]fullmoon[/MENTION] - not sarcasm, just thinking of the future. I've spoken to a couple of owners, they say any diesel auto workshop can service the diesel Bullet.

What tickles me is that it doesn't need even a key to start. It's purely a mechanical contraption. No battery? No problem.

About the usefulness, well, currently i am bullying all the scooters doing 50kmph on empty roads. Some kid with a new Bullet even stopped on the side of the road to let me pass after I honked at him twice. Due to the gradient and steep slopes, we have to change gears twice as much as in the city. Thus, I keep it on lower gears, which makes the CBR leap forward when the throttle is opened even slightly.

As for the CBR250, only thing is, will there be trained mechs to work on it 5 years from now? I tend to keep my vehicles till they are scrap or cost too much to repair, so as long as the CBR can deliver, it will be with me. I'm not swapping my bike for anything.

Re: Honda CBR 250R

Hi guys, interesting to see lots of inquiries and interest for CBR250. I had shared my experience here of picking up an almost 5 year old used CBR250A <25k kms run and a genuine enthusiast owner who maintained it pretty well. I had bought it after a good 2-3 long test rides one of which was over 100+ kms (Yes the owner allowed that after just retaining my ID). Here is my experience post the initial buying + maintenance experience.

I took it to Honda ASC for some quick fixes and overall checkup in Nov 17 and got a bill of approx. 5k for front disk pads, forks oil refill, CCT replacement etc. No other work was required in the bike. Later, in mid December I took it to local FNG in Mumbai specializing in CBR’s for a full service before a long ride and replaced oil, filter, coolant and front disk rotor (since the old rotor was almost on the specified limit and I didn’t want to unevenly wear out the new nissin pads which cost quite a bit)
Total buying + transfer cost + repairs cost so far was <110k so far and I set out for a 4k + kms long ride lasting 10 days in last week of Dec 17. Here are my two cents

Now I do believe CBR hates traffic and cities. It is meant for highways. Engine is a gem, can’t stress enough on this. Pulls sufficiently till 130 even with pillion and quite some luggage. Gearing & fuelling is spot on as well. Michelin (F+R) tyres were fantastic and performed flawlessly even on sand and offroads in Rajasthan. I used Shell FS oil and did not notice any significant improvements over the Honda FS so I’ll be happy to try Motul next time or stick to Honda FS for time being. The bike is very pillion friendly and my wife was pretty happy even after a marathon 1000kms return trip in a day. CBR was easily able to keep up with Versys 650 on highways with moderate traffic and there were no signs of any engine heat beyond 3 bars all throughout. Braking was spot on with the ABS version, although I never felt the ABS come in play even with spirited riding all the time. Yes the ABS did its job on a couple of occasions when there was sand/gravel on the roads even if the bike was not doing high speeds. No fishtailing fun whatsoever, good if you ask me. Mileage varied between 25-30, I can live with that. This was same as the mileage from Versys650 being ridden sedately.

Now coming to the problems faced

1. Leaking engine oil from the filter area similar to the pics posted by member few pages back. Luckily discovered this in time when the oil wasn’t too low. I carried the extra oil an quickly topped it up with 200-300 ml & it was good for now. Rushed across Honda ASC’s in Udaipur early morning to diagnose the issue which was due to one of the two below:
a. The oil seal packing went kaput due to high heat from engine
b. Problem due to incompatible oil filter (the FNG specializing in CBR used Yamaha FZ’s filter against my reservation due to unavailability of the OEM filter across many SVC’s in Mumbai). The said OEM filter packing was not available across any SVC’s in Udaipur so they used bonding sealant and assured it will fix the issue for now. While they were at it, I ensured to switch back to OEM filter after some struggle. I remember the discussion on oil filters here and quite some owners here were not in favor of going for the cheap alternative. I shared the same sentiments but somehow let the FNG screw this up and I probably could have ended up paying a huge price for this. No offence to anyone who is using the other filters successfully so far. I’d stick to OEM forever now or won’t replace if unavailable. To be fair, the honda technicians kept saying this was due to engine heat on my long distance touring at triple digit speeds all day from Mumbai to Jaisalmer. I never felt the engine heating up especially considering it was freaking cold throughout the highways all through the day. Your thoughts welcome on this.

2. The front suspension is just way too soft. Ended up bottoming it on many unseen craters and speed breakers at good speeds. As a result, leaking left fork (opposite fork from the brake disk). Again, spare availability issue at Honda ASC’s in Udaipur so carefully rode to Mumbai wiping off the excess oil at every break. Is it that common to spoil the oil seals attended to by official Honda ASC in November or was it just my inconsiderate riding? Thoughts please

3. The console simply did not light up at all no matter whatever I tried on two occasions when I took a break and restarted after some time. I was frustrated as hell when it happened in the middle of nowhere 100 kms from Jodhpur. Finally decided to push start suspecting the battery or fuses were an issue but the moment I picked it upright from the stand, everything lit up like Christmas. I suspect the bank angle sensor at play here. When it happened again after a day, I tried getting it to upright position without trying anything else and crisis averted.

4. For serious high speed long distance touring, the tank capacity is really a concern. Yes, this may not be a problem for most but it was for me. I did a handful of stretches of 150-200 kms without breaks and at times the petrol pumps in remote areas of RJ/GJ were not available/functioning and I was almost running out of my reserve fuel. The best example to quote was when I had to fill almost 12 liters of petrol in the night at some shabby remote petrol pump at outskirts of a major town after a long non stop ride. I was concerned about the fuel pump after this but no problems whatsoever for rest of the trip. Comparing apples to oranges but Versys with 21 ltrs tank and same mileage figures always skipped a fueling break with the CBR. Again not a big issue for a majority of owners. I religiously fuelled up at any decent petrol pumps after 200 kms and as a result over 50% of my breaks were only a quick fuel breaks. Second option was to carry spare fuel for emergencies but I couldn't accomodate it with luggage & pillion.

Slight OT here – CBR250 manual recommends 91 octane whereas Versys 650 manual recommends 87 octane fuel. What do you guys use? I certainly felt lesser strange engine noises on premium fuel or maybe its just in the mind. The owner of Versys650 was intrigued with this and so were a lot of fuel pump attendants who questioned why the Versys wasn't getting premium fuel if baby CBR was drinking it.

5. This is more of a personal issue but I’m bit surprised I still haven’t gotten rid of the wrist pains even after covering 5000+ kms in 2 months. Yes I’m trying the weight balancing with laps hugging the tanks instead of wrists but that isn’t any help in heavy traffic. The machine isn’t at fault her. I need some more corrections in riding position.


CBR250A proved its mettlle to me and I'm certainly going to invest a bit on its 30k kms overhaul + some touring accessores such as Aux lights, saddle stays, tank grips, gel seats, adjustable levers etc. It was a wise decision to go for a used well maintained bike. Now I do have some funds for major upkeep if need be and stocking critical spares.


Any questions/comments welcome

Re: Honda CBR 250R

[MENTION=22282]mitz[/MENTION], the engine oil filter gasket will leak oil at high speeds due to tremendous oil pressure, if it's not changed every time you change the oil filter. It doesn't matter which filter you use, keep in mind that every time the engine oil filter is changed, the gasket must be changed too. The guys who use the fz oil filter do so after careful testing, I trust they love their bikes as much as we do.


About the wrist pain, you will have to strengthen your wrists. Check Google for that. I've driven 45k on this bike, and still feel minor pain after 100kms ride with pillion.


About the premium fuel, CBR250s give less mileage on premium fuel. I checked it once, tank to tank with same route and speed. Use normal. The little 250 won't care. Although engine sound is quieter.


About filling up, just fuel up after every 150 kms. And ride the bike at 4.5k rpm when fuel is low. I get 350 kms from a tankful when I ride with quarter throttle.

Re: Honda CBR 250R

Didn't know about the requirement to change the oil filter gasket. Checked the manual and you are right on this. I guess I have myself and/or FNG to blame for this rather than the non OEM filter. Thanks
Yes I agree that most of us here love their machines and many are brave enough to experiment as well which is a good opportunity for noobs like me to learn. However, I'm a stock OEM kind of a guy and hence the preference. Like I said, nothing against others who use non OEM stuff like filters brake pads etc.

I can live with the mild wrist pains, not such a big concern.

The problem with fueling up at 150-200 kms is way too many fuel breaks for my liking on long ride of 800-1000 kms a day which this machine is very capable of. Anyway, I have to live with it as I agree with you that premium fuel does nothing for mileage.

Re: Honda CBR 250R

This is OT : I wonder what's the full form of FNG in automobile industry. In military, it's Fuc*ing New Guy

Re: Honda CBR 250R

It means Friendly Neighborhood Garage!



The leaks that you've experienced during the ride, at least with the data that we have available on hand isn't materially related to engine heat. A quick look at the oil replacement interval of the previous owner can give give us a detailed insight. From a practical perspective, if the prior owner had used FZ filter in place of the stock filter, there are high chances they might have re-used the old oil filter gasket with silicone sealants for the time being. When the engine is pushed harder, and metals expand (remember that all metals expand and contract to a certain degree), this is when you have leaks. Bolt torque values do come to play, where poorly torqued bolts too can cause oil weeps from their respective gaskets/packings. If there were to be a problem with the filtration efficiency of the FZ oil filter, the engine would have seized within few kms during your 1k dash.

Oil seals and packing kits leak as they age, they become harder and crack and deform causing oil leaks. Replacing all gaskets and crush washers during every oil change is critical, take out the guesswork and is a safe practice.

The CBR 250R's suspension is indeed softly sprung, and the stock is weighed at 10w. I'd recommend you to switch to 20w fork oil from Motul, it works and the front end is much more compliant and stiff. Still though, be careful on potholes when fully loaded. 331 +-10 ML are the stock values, 350 ML on both the forks with a thicker weight oil would mean, the forks turn stiffer, but also the seals will blow off if the potholes are taken with heavy loads and at speeds.

The minimum RON rating fuel you get in India is 91 RON, so the CBR is fully suited to take that. 87 is the least RON rating, which means knocking can come as surprise. Cheap adulterated fuels induce knock and 91 is recommended so that the combustion efficiency is satisfactory. Higher the RON, higher the combustion efficiency.


Hope it clears some air!

Ride safe!

Cheers!
VJ

Re: Honda CBR 250R

@leech, regarding cbr leaping forward, this will hep you to become gentle with the throttle and useful as you plan to buy a super bike in future
just my experience. I fill every 300 km and fill 9.6 to 10 litre to reach full tank.


----consecutive posts auto-merged-----

This is regarding my handlebar modification mod done in CBR 250R which include some cut in windshield to accomodate the new handles, old clip ons and cables are retained, so that anytime can back to default ones.
some pictures attached for now, will post in detail later...now completed more than 400 km with this setup.

Re: Honda CBR 250R

Funny Military term. But the other full form by B7ackthorn is more widely used in the Automotive scene.


Good for you buddy, 30+ is really good at that speeds.
Great to see the confidence in FZ filter. IIRC there were some members who did not share the same level of enthusiasm for the FZ oil filter. Nevertheless, I rest my case (not that there was any big case) on the oil filter topic. I've learned a lot from Shv18's thread and soaking in from his experiments and knowledge. Someday, I hope I find time & courage to try the Rimula treatment post 40-50 k kms maybe.

How is the Rimula treatment ? Any updates on that ? Sorry if i missed it if already updated.

Re: Honda CBR 250R

As Shv18 quoted the Rimula R4 has a cleansing effect, when i bought my preowned cbr at 25 k ridden, I started using Rimula R4 for 4 times first time changed at 1400 km. Each time it is changed with FZ oil filter. 2nd, 3rd and 4th done at 1800 km, 1950 km and 1640 km intervals. From the 2nd Rimula R4, The roughness of my not well maintained CBR started disappearing and then engine become smoother. Overall it is a good and trouble free experience.Again Thanks to [MENTION=68219]shiv1[/MENTION]8 for sharing this.

After 2nd Rimula R4 change, among 1950 kms, first 1500 km was completed on a long road trip, in which CBR performed flawlessly. No Reduction in oil or no problems.

(Note: But all the time, Shell Petrol bunk guys warned me, "You are using lorry oil in bike , which may affect your bike"...But I trust Xbhp members honest feedbacks and it is really worthy and economical each litre approximately costs Rs.384/- as you know we need 1.6 litre oil to change oil with filter. The correct position/direction of FZ oil filter is also important.)

Re: Honda CBR 250R

Did a service at 18k kms. Changed chain sprockets and both the disc pads, as well as oil and oil filter. Stuck with Honda Throttle engine oil for now, and would switch to shell the next time.

Chain Sprocket + labour ~ 2.3k
Font brake pad ~ 2.1k
Rear brake pad ~ 1.3k

Might try the EBC sintered pads next time as I had superb experience with it on my Ninja 300, though the stock Nissin sintered ones are also one among the best OE pads in the market.

Happy miles everyone

Re: Honda CBR 250R

What happened to the ninja? Did you sell it?